Hubberston War Memorial

Hubberston is a coastal village which is situated to the west of the larger town of Milford Haven, adjacent to Hakin, and is
separated from Milford by Hubberston Pill. The village formed around the 13th century church, which is dedicated to St. David, and stands next to Hubberston green. Fort Hubberston is a large coastal
defence battery located in the village, which was abandoned after the Great War. The men of the village who fell during the Great War are commemorated on a War Memorial which is located within the
village hall. Many thanks to David Phillips for the photograph of the memorial.

The Great War, 1914-1918

John Edwin Anthony, Trimmer, 546TS, Royal Naval Reserve. John was born on 24 November 1890,
the Son of John and Elizabeth Anthony, of Hubberston, Milford Haven. He married Beatrice Maud Battensby in 1913, and the couple resided at Hubberston Green. He served as Trimmer aboard HM Trawler
Drumtochty, which was used to patrol the English Channel. John was killed on active service on 5 March 1916, aged 28, and is buried at Dunkirk Town Cemetery. Drumtochty sank later in the war when she
struck a mine in the Channel on 29 January 1918, with the loss of eleven of her crew of thirteen.

Charles Ernest Badrick, Sergeant, 50140, Royal Engineers. Charles was born in 1882, the son
of Joseph and Rebecca Badrick, of 7, Green Terrace, Hubberston, Milford Haven. He enlisted at Milford into the Royal Engineers, and was posted to their 98th Field Company, which was on the Western
Front, attached to the 21st Division. The Division crossed to France between 2 and 13 September 1915, and its first experience of battle was truly appalling. Having been in France for only a few
days, lengthy forced marches brought it into the reserve for the British assault at Loos. GHQ planning left it too far behind to be a useful reinforcement on the first day, but it was sent into
action on 26 September, whereupon it suffered over 3,800 casualties for very little gain. The Division remained in the area north of Loos over the coming winter, and it was here that Charles was
killed in action on 1 December 1915, aged 33. Charles is buried at Chappelle-D'Armentieres New Military Cemetery, France.

Edward James Davies, Private, 38356, Welsh Regiment. Edward was the son of George and
Caroline Davies, of Hubberston. He enlisted at Milford into the Army, joining the 8th Battalion, Welsh Regiment. The battalion formed part of 40 Brigade, 13th (Western) Division, and between 6 and 16
July 1915 landed on Cape Helles and relieved the 29th Division. They left and returned to Mudros at the end of the month, and the entire Division landed at ANZAC Cove between 3 and 5 August, 1915,
taking part in the Battles of Sari Bair, Russell's Top, and Hill 60, ANZAC. Soon afterwards the Division was transferred from ANZAC to Suvla Bay, and it was evacuated from Suvla on 19 December 1915,
whereupon the infantry moved after a week's rest to the Helles bridgehead, where they faced the last Turkish attacks at Helles. On 8 January 1916, the Division was evacuated from Helles, and by 31
January was concentrated at Port Said, where they held forward posts in the Suez Canal defences. On 12 February, 1916 the Division began to move to Mesopotamia, to strengthen the force being
assembled for the relief of the besieged garrison at Kut al Amara. Edward was killed during the opening of the move into Mesopotamia on 9 February 1917, aged 19. He is buried at Amara War Cemetery,
Mesopotamia.

James Davies, Gunner, 141181, Royal Garrison Artillery. James was the Son of Tom and
Elizabeth Davies, of Haven Head, Hubberston. He enlisted at Milford into the Royal Garrison Artillery, and was posted to its 230th Siege Battery. The Battery formed on 12 August 1916, and moved to
France soon after, taking up positions near Bellewaarde, outside Ypres the following summer. James was killed in action at Ypres on 5 September 1917. He was 32 years old, and is buried at Ypres Town
Cemetery Extension, Belgium.

William George Edwards, Sapper, 15442, Royal Engineers. William was the son of Thomas and
Hannah Edwards, of Court House, Hubberston. He worked at HM Dockyard prior to the war, and enlisted at Pennar into the Royal Engineers. After receiving his training, he was posted to the 11th Field
Company, Royal Engineers, which was attached to the 2nd Division. One of the first Divisions to move to France, the 2nd Division remained on the Western Front throughout the war. They moved to
Belgium, where they fought at the Battle of Mons, and retreating southwards, fought at the Affair of Landrecies, the Rearguard Actions of Villers-Cotterets, and at the Battle of the Marne where the
German offensive was stopped. The Germans retreated north, and the BEF met them, fighting at the Battle of the Aisne. The 2nd Division were then moved to Flanders, where they fought at the First
Battle of Ypres, when the German sweep through Flanders was stopped, and remained there throughout the first winter of the war. William died in Flanders on 11 January 1915, aged 28. He is buried at
Le Touret Military Cemetery, Richebourg-L'Avoue, France.

David Owen Harris, Engineman, 1408ES, Royal Navy. David was born on 9 July 1878, the son of
John and Magdalen Harris of Carmarthen. He had enlisted into the Royal Navy at a young age, and by 1911 was living with his wife Florence E. Harris, at 53, Waterloo Road, Hakin. David served aboard
HM Trawler Blackthorne, which was a hired net drifter. David was accidentally drowned on 21 February 1918. He was 39 years old, and is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial, Devon.

William Ronald Hastings, Private, 78599, Welsh Regiment. William was the son of Robert and
Annie Hastings, of 13, Chapel Street, Milford Haven. William worked as a Butcher's Assistant prior to enlisting into the Welsh Regiment on 24 June 1918, and was posted to the 52nd Training Reserve
Battalion at Kinmel Park. Within months he became ill, and was invalided to Norfolk War Hospital in Norwich where he was found to be suffering from tuberculosis, and he was discharged from the army
as medically unfit on 7 November 1918. William died of tuberculosis at Hubberston on 16 March 1919, aged just 18, and is buried in Milford Haven Cemetery. William's case was passed onto the CWGC on 5
August 2012. He was initially rejected through lack of evidence on 21 July 2014, but has today, Tuesday 22 October 1914 been accepted for commemoration after further evidence was uncovered. He was
temporarily commemorated in the United Kingdom Book of Remembrance, pending confirmation of his burial at Milford, and has recently had a new CWGC Portland headstone erected on what was originally
the bare plot of ground below.

Theophilus Henry Hicks, Corporal, 30959, Welsh Regiment. Theo was the son of Thomas and
Louisa Hicks, of Church Road, Hubberston, Milford Haven. He enlisted at Haverfordwest into the 1st Battalion, Welsh Regiment. The battalion was in India at the outbreak of war, and were quickly
recalled to Britain, where it joined 84 Brigade, 28th Division. The Division formed in England between December 1914 and January 1915 from regular units returning from India, Singapore and Egypt.
During January 1915 it moved to France, landing at Le Havre and moved to the Western Front, where it saw its first major action during the Second Battle of Ypres. Following serious casualties at
Ypres, a Composite Brigade was formed, composing of the 2nd Battalion, the Buffs, 2nd Battalion, the Cheshires, 1st Battalion, the Welsh, and 1st Battalion, the York and Lancaster. It was dissolved
on 19 May 1915, and the formation assumed its normal configuration, taking part in the Battle of Loos. During October 1915, the Division embarked at Marseilles, and proceeded to Egypt, and in
November moved on to Salonika where the Division then remained. Theo must have died of wounds during the journey to Marseilles on 11 October 1915, as he is buried at Les Gonards Cemetery, Versailles,
France. He was 25 years old.

Hubert Ernest Mills, Engineman, 2504ES, Royal Naval Reserve. Hubert was born on 25 August
1877, the son of William and Jane Mills, of Hubberston. He lived prior to the war with his wife, Mary Mills, at Broadway, Little Haven. Hubert was a Royal Naval Reservist, and served during the Great
War aboard HM Trawler Fulmar. Fulmar was a Grimsby-registered 231 ton vessel, which had been built in 1899 and hired in May 1915 by the Admiralty. She was sunk by a mine on 17 Jan 1916 in the Gulf of
Sollum, with the loss of all hands. Hubert was 38 years old, and is commemorated on Panel 19 of the Plymouth Naval Memorial, Devon.

Ivor Carlyle Williams, Private, 66193, Cheshire Regiment. Ivor was born at Hubberston in
1899, the son of John and Eleanor Williams. The family later resided at 11, William's Street, Pontardulais prior to the war, and Ivor worked in a Tinplate Works. He enlisted at Ammanford on 12 June
1915 into the 15th Battalion, Welsh Regiment, which was known as the Carmarthen Pals Battalion. He was discharged on 5 October 1915 due to being under-age. Ivor re-enlisted at Swansea in February
1917, and was posted to the 9th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment, attached to 56 Brigade, 19th (Western) Division. Ivor joined the battalion in France on 24 January 1918. In the Spring of 1918 the
division was caught up in the German Spring Offensive on the Somme, and was decimated, before being moved to positions near Ploegsteert to rest and rebuild. Fatally, they were hit again, by a fresh
offensive in April, and during the desperate fighting that followed in the Battle of Kemmel, Ivor was fatally wounded in the thigh and arms by gunshot. He died of his wounds, aged just 19, on 29
April 1918, and is buried at Esquelbecq Military Cemetery, France.

DONATIONS. If you find this website of use, please think about donating to help cover the costs of the huge amount of work and the continual costs of keeping the
website on-line. Donations can be made using the Paypal link below, or by contacting the author via the Contact page.

Website News

6 Mar 2018. Some more good news today that yet another Welsh soldier, Thomas David Rees, of Whitchurch, Cardiff, has been accepted as a war casualty
by the CWGC as a result of my work. Please see the Forgotten Soldiers section of the website for further details.

3 Mar 2018. Good news today that another Welsh soldier, Reginald Wilfred Collard, of Whitchurch, Cardiff, has been accepted as a war casualty by the
CWGC as a result of my work. Please see the Forgotten Soldiers section of the website for further details.

26 Feb 2018. The second volume of my latest book 'The Welsh at War' has been published today and is available from all good bookshops. Please see the
Steve's Books page for details.

23 Feb 2018. Some good news today that another local man, Gwilym Bennett, of Llanelli, has been accepted as a war casualty by the CWGC as a result of
my work. Please see the Forgotten Soldiers section of the website for further details.

5 Feb 2018. The first volume of my latest book 'The Welsh at War' has been published today and is available from all good bookshops. Please see the
Steve's Books page for details.

27 Jan 2018. Some good news again, that Thomas Arthur Edward Pugsley, of Ynysboeth, has recently been accepted by the CWGC for commemoration by the
CWGC as a result of my work. Please see the Forgotten Soldiers section of the website for further details.

22 Jan 2018. I have received news that a sailor from Swansea, James Carne, who I had researched, has been accepted for commemoration by the CWGC as a
result of my work. Please see the Forgotten Soldiers section of the website for further details.

1 December 2017. A new section has been added to the website, which will cover some war memorials in Glamorgan, more especially the memorials nearest
to the county border with Carmarthenshire. More will be added as time allows.

4 November 2017. Some good news this week following the discovery, after much searching, of the grave of Private Thomas Davies, of Laugharne. Please
see the Forgotten Soldiers page of the website for details.

4 May 2017. Welcome news this morning that a new CWGC headstone has been erected in Laugharne for Domingo
Mobile, a sailor who I found to be buried there a couple of years ago. Please see the Forgotten Soldiers section of the website for
further details.

8 March 2017. Some more good news today. Another un-commemorated Welsh sailor, Samuel Arthur Griffiths, of
Tredegar, has today been accepted for commemoration by the CWGC as a result of my research. Please see the Forgotten Soldiers section
of the website for further details.

8 February 2017. Some more good news today. Another un-commemorated soldier, Llewelyn Owen Roberts, of
Penmaenmawr, has today been accepted for commemoration by the CWGC as a result of my research. Please see the Forgotten Soldiers
section of the website for further details.

7 February 2017. Some more good news today. Another un-commemorated soldier, Isaac Owen, of Seven Sisters, has
today been accepted for commemoration by the CWGC as a result of my research. Please see the Forgotten Soldiers section of the website
for further details.

20 December 2016. Some good news today that another uncommemorated soldier, Private Thomas Owen Davies, of
Machynlleth, has been accepted for commemoration by the CWGC following my research. Please see the Forgotten Soldiers section of the
website for further details.

23 November 2016. Some good news today with the acceptance of another Welsh soldier, Percy Griffin Williams, of
the Welsh Horse Yeomanry, for commemoration by the CWGC following my research. Please see the Forgotten Soldiers section of the
website for details.

15 November 2016. I would like to thank the people of Laugharne, especially the members of the Laugharne and
District Historical Society, for their welcome during their recent History Event on Saturday when I visited to make a talk about how researching the Laugharne War Memorial inspired me to create this
website and to begin my writing career. It was a very interesting day and was well attended by the locals.

26 Sep 2016. After a lot of hard work I have finally managed to identify a soldier from Gwaun-cae-Gurwen, Morgan Price James, who since the early
1920’s has been commemorated by the CWGC under the wrong name, James Morgan. Please see the Forgotten Soldiers section of the website for details.